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Pre-Adamites, sin, death and the human fossils

All theistic evolutionists and many who invoke other strategies for harmonising
Genesis 1–3 with the human fossil record hold to the
concept of pre-Adamites, although they seldom use the term. However, throughout
the human fossil record there is evidence of sin, violence, trauma, hardship, and
premature physical death. Hence, the entire human fossil record must be placed after
the Fall of the Biblical Adam, not before. Otherwise, the Genesis 3 Fall becomes theologically meaningless.

A brief history of the pre-Adamite theory

Sketches of seven different ‘Preadamite Races’ claimed to be created
before Adam and inferior to Adamites. Note the features of several of the illustrations
are very exaggerated to look more apelike.

Of all the methods used to harmonise science and Genesis 1–3, the pre-Adamite theory, the idea that
there were humans living on Earth before Adam, has had the most colourful and checkered
history.

One of the first serious statements of the pre-Adamite concept was by Isaac de la
Peyrere, a Jewish convert to Catholicism from Bordeaux, who in 1655 published a
book, Systema Theologicum ex Prae-Adamitarum Hypothesi. Peyrere argued
that the Biblical Adam was of pre-Adamite stock, and was the father of only the
Jews. Cain’s wife and the inhabitants of Cain’s city, as well as the
Gentiles, were of other pre-Adamite stock and were not descended from the
Biblical Adam. Peyrere questioned miracles and the doctrine of Original Sin. To
explain the existence of pre-Adamite Gentiles living after the Flood, he held that
the Flood was a local event. Because of his doctrinal defects, the Catholic Church
declared Peyrere to be a heretic. He was forced to make a public recantation before
Pope Alexander VII. However, Peyrere continued to hold the pre-Adamite view for
the rest of his life.

David Livingstone (Historian of Science, Queen’s University, Belfast), in
his 1990 lecture at Wheaton College on pre-Adamites, suggests that Peyrere may not
have been a Christian at all, but that he pretended to convert to Christianity for
social or other purposes. However, with Peyrere’s theory we have the origin
of modern Biblical criticism. Livingstone says of pre-Adamism: “The theory
is born in infidelity and is nurtured in skepticism”.1 Peyrere’s theory served as an encouragement
to those involved in free-thought.

In the eighteenth century, pre-Adamism moved into mainstream science. Although evolution
was well-known at that time, the major scientific paradigm of origins was creationism.
However, it was not a creationism based upon Genesis as much as it was a creationism
based upon that ancient and perennial philosophy known as “The Great Chain
of Being”.2 Because
the dark-skinned and “savage” races of the world were viewed as being
very different from Caucasians, it was not considered likely that both groups had
a common origin. Hence, pre-Adamism took the form of polygenesis, multiple
creations of human races. Many people thought that non-Caucasians were created by
the Almighty as inferior races intended to be treated as slaves or as domestic animals.
Some even questioned whether or not these inferior humans had souls. Thus, pre-Adamism
became the scientific basis and rationale for slavery and racism. Even some Bible-believing
Christians accepted pre-Adamism in this era, believing that it was not possible
for Caucasians and the “very different” non-Caucasians to have both
developed from the Biblical Adam in the time allowed by Genesis. Thus, the sceptical
unorthodoxy of the seventeenth century tended to became the respected orthodoxy
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.1

One of the major works in the nineteenth century was by Alexander Winchell entitled
Pre-Adamites; or a Demonstration of the Existence of Men before Adam, published
in 1880.3 Winchell was Professor
of Geology and Palaeontology at the University of Michigan. He was one of the leading
scientists of his day, and was a constant adviser on matters scientific to his church,
the Methodist Church. Although his work was blatantly racist, he claimed that it
was supported both by the Bible and by the latest scientific evidence. He felt that
virtually everything in Genesis 1–11 (other than Genesis 1:1) was subject to scientific verification
and should be interpreted according to the latest scientific findings. Although
he was accused of being an evolutionist, he claimed to be a creationist. He held
that the human family had a single origin, that the Biblical Adam was a late descendent
from black pre-Adamite stock, and that the Adamites (white and Caucasian) had developed
(evolved?) to a more advanced position than had the dark-skinned races, which included
Dravidians, Mongoloids (and the Neandertals), Negros, Eskimos, Hottentots, Papuans,
and native Australians. Winchell thus helped popularise the pre-Adamite concept
both as a defence of racism and as an apologetic for the Bible in its interface
with science.

A testimony to the amazing flexibility of the pre-Adamite concept is seen in that
while Alexander Winchell used the pre-Adamites in support of a long Earth history,
G.H. Pember, in Earth’s Earliest Ages,4 used the pre-Adamites as evidence of a divine judgment,
placing them in a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. In Pember’s gap theory there
is a discontinuity between pre-Adamites and Adamites. In Winchell’s work and
in more recent pre-Adamite scenarios there is usually a continuity between pre-Adamites
and Adamites or their contemporaries.

With its checkered career, one can question whether the pre-Adamite concept is able
to cast any meaningful or discriminating information on human origins as set forth
in Genesis.

The pre-Adamite concept was born in Biblical scepticism and heresy. It then moved
into mainstream science and became a justification for racism and slavery. In the
twentieth century, pre-Adamism is no longer a consideration in the scientific community.
However, with the continued discovery of human fossils of alleged great age, pre-Adamism
has moved into the Church and become one of the major apologetic methods used in
the harmonisation of science and the Scriptures.

It would be natural for twentieth century evangelicals who are theistic evolutionists
to subscribe to some form of pre-Adamism, although they seldom use the term. They
see the Biblical Adam, usually dated by them about 10,000 years ago (10 ka), to
be quite modern (Neolithic Age). The older human fossils are the pre-Adamites and
would represent Adam’s evolutionary precursors (Palaeolithic Age). However,
some old-Earth-recent-Adam creationists also invoke pre-Adamism to explain the human
fossil material. Ronald Youngblood (Bethel Seminary—West) states that these
pre-Adamites had only animal intelligence with no covenant relationship with God.5 Gleason L. Archer, Jr. (Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School) also feels that the pre-Adamites did not have a covenant
relationship with God, but that they might have had souls. Since Romans 5:12–21 states that all present humans must
be the literal descendants of Adam, Archer suggests that the pre-Adamites were destroyed
by God before He created Adam.6
John R.W. Stott (All Souls Church, London) also ascribes the human fossils to pre-Adamites,
and states that Adam was the first human specifically created in the image of God.7

Without question, pre-Adamism, used in one form or another as a Christian apologetic,
is more popular today than it has ever been in its history. This strange concept
has been used to support either heresy or orthodoxy, to support slavery and racism,
and to support either evolution or its exact opposite, creationism. With its checkered
career, one can question whether the pre-Adamite concept is able to cast any meaningful
or discriminating information on human origins as set forth in Genesis.

The theological problem

Drawing of a female Hottentot and a female gorilla purporting to show how close
a Preadamite is to an ape. The drawings show little relationship with reality and
are drawn to ‘prove’ the author’s preconceived idea.

The use of pre-Adamism as a harmonising strategy involves a major theological problem.
The seriousness of this problem is exceeded only by the failure of pre-Adamite adherents
to address it. The problem is that there is not a shred of Biblical evidence for
the existence and death of pre-Adamites. Further, the idea contradicts
clear Biblical statements that human physical death originated with Adam. The late
Bernard Ramm, who could hardly be accused of taking the early chapters of Genesis
literally, expressed the problem of pre-Adamism well:

“There are problems with this theory before it can be a good option. It seems
too much like having our cake and eating it. We can admit all that the anthropologists
say; and then announce that it has nothing to do with the Biblical account of man.
We can have the antiquity of man, and the recency of Adam! But who is to tell where
one leaves off and the other begins? Certainly, if pre-Adamism leads to the breakdown
of the unity of the race, we have theological problems with the imputation of sin
through the fall of one man.”8
(Emphasis added.)

Romans 5:12–21, which is at the heart of the problem,
is one of the most profound and theological passages in the entire Scriptures. Paul
writes (NIV):

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one
man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for
before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account
when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time
of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who
was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if
the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace
and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the
many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin:
The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many
trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death
reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant
provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one
man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation
for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that
brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the
many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will
be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where
sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death,
so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.”

“ … For since death came through a man, the resurrection
of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will
be made alive.”

The profoundness of the concept does not detract from the clarity of the language.
Physical death first entered the world through the sin of one man, the Biblical
Adam, and his sin was imputed to the entire human family because all humans are
descended from Adam. Oxford theologian W. H. Griffith Thomas comments on the Romans
passage:

“ … sin and death are regarded as connected; death obtains its moral
quality from sin. Paul clearly believes that physical dissolution was due to sin,
and that there is some causal connection between Adam and the human race in regard
to physical death … . The clause "for that all sinned" (v. 12) establishes
a causal connection between the sin of Adam and the death of all”.9

The historicity of the Biblical Adam, the historicity of the Fall, the imputation
of Adam’s sin to the entire human family, and its resulting physical death
are all related. Further, Paul relates them to Christ’s work on the cross
and to the plan of redemption. John Murray (Westminster Theological Seminary) emphasises
this relationship:

“To view the parallel and contrasted disobedience of the one Adam in non-historical
terms is to wreck the structure of Paul’s thought and therefore the doctrine
set forth in these passages. The consequences for the plan of redemption are apparent. [Emphasis added]”.10

Some old-Earth advocates attempt to blunt the force of the relationship between
Adam’s sin and physical death by claiming that only spiritual death
resulted from Adam’s sin, and that physical death is a natural occurrence
and a part of God’s original creation. Hugh Ross, referring to the expulsion
of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, goes even further than most of his old-Earth
fellows in claiming that physical death is a “blessing”. He writes:

“Physical death for humans became a blessing designed to restrain the spread
of evil and make way for the redemption of willing men and women”11

However, Ross is in error. Physical death was not a “blessing” but was
a penalty for Adam’s sin. When Paul states: “For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ all will be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:22) the context is bodily resurrection!
Hence, Paul clearly is talking about physical death because bodily resurrection
is the “cure” for physical death. Regeneration is the “cure”
for spiritual death. The two are closely related, one dealing with the human body
and the other with the human spirit. Death in both cases is the result of Adam’s
sin. To make one a punishment and one a “blessing”, as Ross does, when
the Scriptures teach that physical death is a curse (Genesis 3) and an enemy (I Corinthians 15:26) is a denial of an important part
of Scripture—all in an attempt to harmonise Scripture with the popular belief
in an old Earth.

If the Fall is not an historic reality, if physical death is ‘natural’,
it implies that we are not fallen creatures and that it was not necessary for Christ
to die to purchase our salvation.

Although physical death is the sign of the deeper fact of spiritual death, it is
physical death that is imposed directly from Adam upon each human being. Spiritual
death is inherited from our parents—going back through all of the intervening
generations to Adam.12
If the Fall is not an historic reality, if physical death is “natural”,
it implies that we are not fallen creatures and that it was not necessary for Christ
to die to purchase our salvation. In this sense, the doctrine of the imputation
of Adam’s sin to the human family is one of the most important doctrines of
the Scriptures.

The doctrine of the imputation of Adam’s sin to the human race may be a fundamental
doctrine, and it may be clearly taught in Scripture, but it is “strange”
nonetheless. However, this “strangeness” may be the fault of our sinfulness
rather than that of the doctrine itself. The doctrine implies the incredible unity
and solidarity of the human race. If evangelicals truly believed the implications
of this doctrine, we would be in the vanguard of the movement for racial justice
and equality. Unfortunately, sin separates rather than unites. It results in self-centredness.
We see only ourselves, not others. Isaiah put it well (Isaiah 53:6): “ … each of us
has turned to his own way … .” Hence, any doctrine emphasising
the unity of the human family would seem strange and unnatural to us as sinners.

Further, the doctrine of the imputation of the sin of Adam to the entire human family
seems unfair to us. However, here again our sinfulness distorts our vision. It is
the very same doctrine of imputation that places our sins upon Christ at the cross,
and that imputes the righteousness of Christ to us as believers. Was it fair for
the sinless Christ to be made sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21)? That ethical problem doesn’t
concern us. We are content to call it the love of God. Is it fair for us to receive
the righteousness of Christ when we do not deserve it? We don’t worry about
the ethics of it. We call it “grace” and thank God for it. In other
words, when imputation works to our good, we gladly accept it. When it doesn’t,
we question the fairness of God. The problem is ours, not God’s. The fact
is that we die physically because of Adam’s sin. Biblically, all physical
death occurred after Adam’s Fall, not before. As sincere as they may be, those
who espouse the pre-Adamite theory and its history of death before Adam are actually
endangering the very doctrine of salvation they hold dear.

To sustain the pre-Adamite old-Earth concept, many of its advocates also question
the nature of the Genesis 3 curse. Romans 8:18–25 states that the “creation
was subjected to frustration”, “that the
creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay”,
and that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the
pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. Some old-Earth
advocates say that these verses are not references to the curse which God placed
upon nature as a result of Adam’s sin. Instead, they present the “normal”
condition of nature as God created it even before Adam’s sin, based upon their
belief in the legitimacy of the uniformitarian ages and their history of physical
death. These verses, they say, predict a future glory for the Earth rather than
referring to a past curse.

Based on the idea that physical death in animals is a normal part of God’s
original creation, some old-Earth advocates suggest that there are two types of
evil: “moral evil” and “natural evil”. “Moral evil”
began with Adam’s sin and involves murder, stealing, lying, and other sins
committed by humans. It results in human physical death. “Natural evil”
involves “evil” in the universe not originated by humans, such as

animal disease and death;

human accidents, birth defects, disease, and pain;

natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and drought; and

the death and decay of plants.

All of this “natural evil” was the normal condition of nature even before
the sin of Adam.

It is a powerful testimony to the clarity of Romans 5:12–21 that most old-Earth pre-Adamite advocates
assign the beginning of human physical death to Adam. However, their devotion to
the geologic ages system also demands that they subscribe to the presence of “natural
evil” before Adam’s sin. Gary Emberger (Messiah College) asserts:

“Given an old earth, there are no compelling reasons to attribute all natural
evils to the sin of the first humans”.13

The recognition that human physical death began with Adam implies that many of them
assume that the pre-Adamites were less than human.

Almost all who hold the old-Earth pre-Adamite position consider the Biblical Adam
to have lived during the Neolithic (New Stone Age), about 10 ka. The human fossils
dated before that time, representing humans who lived in the Palaeolithic (Old Stone
Age), were pre-Adamites. The nature of these pre-Adamites (were they human or animal,
having or not having the image of God?) varies with the individual interpreter.
However, the recognition that human physical death began with Adam implies that
many of them assume that the pre-Adamites were less than human. This would partly
explain their desire to show that the Bible allows for animal death before Adam.
However, every bit of evidence that we can reasonably expect from the fossil and
archaeological record shows that these fossil individuals were fully human.

The human fossil evidence

The human fossil record shows that human death goes back several million years on
the uniformitarian time-scale. During all of this time, there is evidence of “moral
evil”. Further, the human fossil record beyond 10 ka is full of evidence of
the deaths of infants, children, and young people. For anyone to claim that God
would call this history “good” is almost to question the nature of God.
Thus, the old-Earth pre-Adamite theory that human sin and death began about 10 ka
(according to the uniformitarian time-scale) and that the older human fossils represent
pre-Adamites who lived before the Fall is Biblically untenable.

Evidence of physical death

Whereas evolutionists refer to the fossil record as the history of life, it is more
accurately described as the history of death. When we consider the fossil record
of the animal kingdom, the world-wide testimony of death is so vast that it defeats
the imagination. It is no wonder that evolutionists attempt to bring the magnitude
of this record within the scope of human experience by stretching it out over millions
of years to lessen its intensity.

Every human fossil individual represents an occasion of physical death, a condition
which the Scriptures state came as a result of Adam’s sin and Fall. Since
all of the individuals dated earlier than Adam and the Neolithic would be the alleged
pre-Adamites, extensive research reveals that this would include the following fully
human individuals known from the fossil record:

Well over 2000 anatomically modern Homo sapiens individuals.

At least 345 Neandertal individuals, also classified as Homo sapiens.

At least 122 archaic Homo sapiens individuals.

It is difficult to imagine how the relevant Scriptures can be interpreted so as
to allow these deaths to occur before the Fall of Adam. (Although a strong case
can be made for the full humanity of the 260 Homo erectus fossil individuals,
they are not included in this study because even among creationists their status
is controversial.)

Evidence of hardship

In the human fossil record, there is much evidence of hardship, trauma, and disease,
the very things we would expect in life after the Fall, not before. One group of
Homo sapiens, the Neandertals, are dated by evolutionists from about 30
ka back to about 250 ka. A leading authority on the Neandertals, Erik Trinkaus (University
of New Mexico), describes their life:

“ … life for the Neanderthals was rigorous. If they lived through childhood
and early adulthood, they did so bearing the scars of a harsh and dangerous life.
Furthermore, the incidence of trauma correlated with the massiveness of the Neanderthals;
a life style that so consistently involved injury would have required considerable
strength and fortitude for survival”.15

Speaking of the nine Shanidar, Iraq, Neandertals, Trinkaus writes: “ …
the impression gained of the Shanidar Neanderthals is of a group of invalids”.16

Trinkaus also studied the teeth of the Neandertals for defects in the enamel which
would indicate periods of starvation. He discovered that 70 per cent of the Neandertal
fossils studied showed such defects and that these defects dramatically increased
after childhood. This would indicate that life for the Neandertals became even harder
after they were weaned and had to get food on their own.17 In fact, scientists speculate that two-thirds
of Neandertal children died before the age of three.18

Evidence of a sin nature in human fossil individuals

In much of the trauma found in the human fossil record, it is impossible to determine
if that trauma, such as broken bones, was the result of accidents (so called “natural
evil”) or the result of human sin. However, there are four categories where
the evidence of a sin nature in these alleged pre-Adamites is very strong: cannibalism,
violence, evidence of syphilis, and evidence of scalping.

Cannibalism

There is evidence of cannibalism in the human fossil record. Care must be taken
in the interpretation of this record because it is known that some cultures—past
and present—have a mortuary practice of an initial burial, a subsequent defleshing
of the bones, and then a reburial of the bones. In such cases, cut marks on the
bones could be misinterpreted as evidence of cannibalism. However, there are ways
to discriminate between the two practices.19
In the mortuary practice, all of the bones of the skeleton are usually found together
in one place, none of the bones are intentionally broken, and there is evidence
that the entire practice is carried out with deep respect for the remains of the
deceased individual. In cannibalism, the base of the skull is often broken open
to remove the brains, the long bones of the body are broken to remove the marrow,
and the bones are not normally found together. Instead, they are discarded randomly
and scattered along with other kitchen refuse.

There are at least 95 probable victims and at least 30 possible victims (?) of cannibalism
in the human fossil record. They are as follows:

An unquestioned case of violence is seen in the Neandertal fossil, Shanidar 3, Iraq,
dated at 46 ka. Eric Trinkaus writes:

“ … trauma on the left ninth rib of the skeleton of Shanidar 3, a partially
healed wound inflicted by a sharp object. The implement cut obliquely across the
top of the ninth rib and probably pierced the underlying lung. Shanidar 3 almost
certainly suffered a collapsed left lung and died several days or weeks later, probably
as a result of secondary complications. This is deduced from the presence of bony
spurs and increased density of the bone around the cut.

The position of the wound on the rib, the angle of the incision, and the cleanness
of the cut make it highly unlikely that the injury was accidentally inflicted. In
fact, the incision is almost exactly what would have resulted if Shanidar 3 had
been stabbed in the side by a right-handed adversary in face-to-face conflict. This
wound therefore provides conclusive evidence of violence between humans …
.”.30

Kenneth A.R. Kennedy (Cornell University) adds that Shanidar 3 was found with a
stone point embedded in his thorax.27

Another almost certain case of violence among the human fossils is recorded by McCown
and Keith involving their work in the caves of Mount Carmel, Israel. It concerns
injuries seen in the remains of the fossil individual known as Skhul 9, dated at
91 ka. The injuries appear to have been made by a spear-like weapon. They write:

“The injury … was caused at death or soon after death. The weapon pierced
and severed the whole thickness of the head of the femur, the floor of the acetabulum,
and entered the pelvic cavity … . To cause such an injury the weapon must
have had a hard and resistant point and the man who used it must have had great
strength.

The skull of the same man shows an extensive injury. A close examination of the
margins of the injury leads us to think that it was caused by a glancing blow at,
or soon after, death”.31

The two injuries together seem to rule out an accident and reveal a clear case of
human violence. If the injuries happened at the time of death, they could well have
been the cause of death. Even if the trauma happened after death, it seems to have
been an act of aggression. It hardly seems to have been an act of friendship.

Listed below are other injuries that could well be the result of human violence.
The death of the Talgai, Australia, youth (12 ka) was due to a blow on the right
parieto-temporal region of the skull. Shanidar 1, Iraq (46 ka), experienced a serious
blow to the left side of the eye socket. Monte Circeo 1, Italy (50 ka), died by
a blow to the right temporal region. Shanidar 5, Iraq (60 ka), has scars from a
transverse blow across his left forehead. At Atapuerca, Spain (350 ka), one individual
has a skull injury produced by a blunt object, and another has a depressed area
in the skull of possible traumatic origin. The Saldanha skull, South Africa (350
ka), has a depressed fracture of the frontal bone indicating a heavy blow. It is
highly unlikely that all of these injuries were accidental.

Evidence of syphilis

D. J. M. Wright (Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London) states that bone changes
in Neandertal remains he examined at the British Museum show evidence of congenital
syphilis.32 He mentioned
specifically the Starosel’e infant, Ukraine, CIS (35 ka), the Gibraltar 2
infant (40 Kya ?), the Pech de l’Azé infant, France (45 ka), and the
original Neandertal remains from Germany (80 ka?). Since syphilis, a sexually transmitted
disease, is usually the result of improper sexual behaviour, this could be another
indication of sin in the human family before 10 ka. (With strict monogamy, syphilis
would die out.)

Evidence of scalping

The Bodo cranium from Ethiopia (600 ka) shows clear evidence of having been scalped,
probably with a stone knife. Tim D. White (University of California, Berkeley),
widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost authorities in this area,
has studied the skull using a scanning electron microscope.33 He reports that the cut marks on the fossilised
bone are consistent with cut marks on skulls scalped by pre-Columbian Indians which
he examined in an Ohio museum. There is no evidence of cannibalism, since the base
of the skull was not broken to remove the contents. Since the only reason for such
action would be to take the scalp as a trophy or to use it in a pagan ritual, it
would seem to be another indication of sin in the human family before 10 ka.

Chronological list of trauma, disease, sin, and premature death in the human fossil
record

(Although we young-Earth creationists reject them, all dates in this paper reflect
the uniformitarian time-scale, a time-scale accepted without question by theistic
evolutionists and progressive creationists. “?” means that the date
is uncertain, “ka” means “thousand years ago”, “Ma”
means “million years ago”. Many fossil remains consist only of teeth.
These cases are not listed because juvenile tooth loss can be a normal growth process
not involving trauma, disease, or death.)

Svitavka skeleton, Homo sapiens, Czech Republic. Death of a juvenile.83

46 ka

Shanidar 1 skeleton, Neandertal, Iraq. Serious blow to left side of eye socket; right
upper arm bone atrophied with pathological tip; several healed fractures in both upper
arm bones; fracture and extensive arthritis in right foot; numerous skeletal lesions.84

46 ka

Shanidar 3 skeleton, Neandertal, Iraq. Debilitating arthritis in right foot; lumbar abnormalities;
and a partially healed wound on left ninth rib violently inflicted by a sharp object, probably
resulting in death. A stone point was found embedded in his thorax.27,30

46 ka

Shanidar 5 skeleton, Neandertal, Iraq. Pathological bone nodules on the inner surfaceof
the skull, and scars from a transverse blow across the left forehead.16,85

Border Cave 3 remains, Homo sapiens, South Africa. Death of an infant.112

130 ka

Krapina remains, Neandertal, Croatia (75–82). Victims of cannibalism, all
between the ages of 3 and 20. A high frequency of enamel defects in the teeth of
the victims. One individual had a broken forearm which never reunited.15,21,25,113

130 ka

Laetoli 18 skull, archaic Homo sapiens, Tanzania. Death of a young adult.114

KNM-ER 1590 cranium, Homo sapiens-like, Kenya. Death of a juvenile.145

Conclusion

To my knowledge, this is the first study of premature death, trauma, disease, and
evidence of sin revealed by the human fossils. Most pre-Adamite and old-Earth advocates
seem to be unfamiliar with the extent of this human fossil evidence and may not
realise the full significance of what they are proposing when they place the bulk
of the human fossils prior to the Fall of the Biblical Adam.

In all probability, this list reflects only a portion of the actual trauma in fossil
individuals for the following reasons:

Trauma in some fossil individuals probably has not been reported;

Fossils with evidence of trauma are continually being discovered;

The number of fossil individuals diminishes dramatically as one goes deep in the
fossil record; hence, only a few of the earlier humans have been preserved;

Fossil individuals who show no trauma in their preserved skeletal parts could have
had trauma in their unpreserved skeletal parts or in their soft tissue areas.

The recognition that human physical death began with Adam implies that many of them
assume that the pre-Adamites were less than human.

The human fossil record reveals the pre-Adamite theory to be in error. Evidence
of virtually every type of premature death, trauma, disease, and sin which we could
reasonably expect the human fossils to show is found in the fossil record before
10 ka. We find in them the conditions we would expect to find after the Fall of
Adam, not before. The accounts of sin, violence, and death recorded after the Fall,
in Genesis 4–11, are reflected in the human fossil record.
Hence, the human fossil material should be assigned to that era of human history,
and exclusively after the Flood, given the relative positions of these fossils at
the very top of the geological record.

The idea that “natural evil” was a part of the original creation, or
that it was in effect outside of the Garden of Eden, is likewise refuted by the
human fossil record. The fossil record does not record just animal death. It records
at least 2,467 human deaths beyond 10 ka. Further, at least 273 of those deaths
are deaths of infants, children, juveniles, or young adults. Even today we look
upon such deaths as tragedies. The idea that God would create a world where this
type of death takes place and call it “Very good” offends our sensibilities.
In fact, the Bible speaks of long life as a “blessing” (for
example, Deuteronomy 6:2, 22:7; I Kings 3:14; Proverbs 28:16). If the advocates of death as a
“blessing” have in mind the death of a person after a long and fulfilling
life, the human fossil record does not reveal that kind of existence. Hence, because
of the clear evidence of sin, disease, trauma, and premature death in the human
fossil record, the individuals found in the human fossil record must be placed after
the Fall of the Biblical Adam, not before, as they are in a young-Earth, global-Flood
context.

Further Reading

References

Livingstone, D., Harmonizing Science and Scripture: The
Pre-Adamite Strategy, Symposium on the Harmonization of Scripture and Science,
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, March 22–23, 1990. Transcribed from the
recording of the sessions. Return to text.

Lovejoy, A.O., The Great Chain of Being, Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, 1964. Return to text.

Winchell, A., Preadamites; or a Demonstration of the Existence
of Men before Adam, S.C. Griggs and Company, Chicago, 1880.
Return to text.

de Castro, J.M.B., Durand, A.I. and Ipina, S.I., Sexual
dimorphism in the human dental sample from the SH site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain):
a statistical approach, Journal of Human Evolution24(1):44,
1993. Return to text.

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